Rugby
So, I know that many nations enjoy rugby and get passionate about it and all that. And when we arrived in New Zealand and were told that the national religion was rugby, we chortled gently at the wit.
However, we are now faced with being here for the rugby world cup. A world cup that by rights, the All Blacks really should win (no offence to England, Wales, Australia, other nations that at times may have been worthy...lots of offence to France...). New Zealand teams are not known for falling at the final hurdle but the All Blacks and the world cup seems to be a slight nod in that direction.
Everyday, the television tells us how many days to go to the start of the world cup (70 - it's been counting since 100). We have adverts that are just about how much we love the All Blacks (admittedly the tri-nations (with the Springboks and the Wallabies) are going at the moment too making it a little more justifiable) with a tiny weeny nod to their sponsors at the end.
Generally, sport is huge here but half the teams are still nods to the All Blacks (the Tall Blacks are the basketball team, the Black Sticks are the hockey team and the Black Caps are the cricket team. The Silver Ferns (netball) break out a bit but you know their logo has to be the same...)
We're in the midst of the America's Cup at the moment and already there are mutterings about the lower productivity of the country as people are staying up until the early hours to watch the races as they come live from Valencia. And sailing, while big, just doesn't touch rugby. I suspect we will need to plan in the same way for the world cup as we do for earthquakes - enough food and so on in the house that when everything shuts down (which is no bad thing - it happens in January anyway and is pretty cool), we won't be stranded!
(Oh, and for anyone who was feeling that we might be getting more attached to NZ than England, notice how I apologised to Australia and not to France... You can get t-shirts here that say "I support two teams, New Zealand and anyone playing Australia"...)
8 comments:
Its ok. We beat them at everything else.
Oh no! Am I going to arrive amidst crazy rugby madness?!! When does it end? Do you think the airport will be closed! I need this sort of cultural acclimatisation Jen - keep it up.
R
I need one of those t-shirts. Except mine should say "I support two teams; Wales and anyone playing England" ;) xx
Phish - Tis true, tis true!
Ruth - No, you are ok, the world cup will be well over by then. And being the summer you'll have a little bit of time before there is any great rugbying. However, if we do persuade you to arrive in Jan, you will find that all smaller establishments (small cafes, garages, umm, anything) may well be closed for the summer!
Welshy - except that I think you were quite pleased with the last world cup weren't you? ;) but I think the t-shirt would still be allowed!
The ones in Australia either say 'I support 2 teams; Australia and anyone playing England' or 'anyone playing New Zealand'. You can take your pick. See how generous the Aussies are, you can even pick which country you want to hate more! ;) It's usually England to be fair but they do give you a choice.
A bas les bleus!
I was quite pleased in the end, but it took a lot of beer (and bacon sandwiches) to get there... ;) x
Ellie - I was amazed actually, I expected loads of England bashing here but as long as we beat Australia (which hasn't happened in anything since we've been here...) then all is well and we are welcomed into the fold!
Chris - Indeed!
Welshy - mmmm, bacon sandwiches! Ah well, probably time to put the roasting veg in the oven for tea and stop dreaming of bacon...
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